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By CARRIE JOHNSON, Times Staff WriterThe megaretailer can appeal a rejection of its plans for Gandy Boulevard.
ST. PETERSBURG - For a few seconds after the final vote was announced, the residents of Brighton Bay sat in stunned silence.
Then the chamber at City Hall erupted into cheers.
"I don't believe it!" shouted one man.
"Oh my God!" a woman yelled.
"Power to the people!" a man screamed.
After more than nine hours of debate, the unthinkable had happened.
What was supposed to be a routine site review for a new Wal-Mart supercenter at 10490 Gandy Blvd. turned into a major defeat for the retail giant when the Environmental Development Commission rejected its plan 5-2.
The battle isn't over. Wal-Mart can appeal the commission's decision to the City Council. But it was a huge victory for Brighton Bay residents, who mobilized a well-funded and highly organized effort to block the development.
"We didn't use emotion. We used fact," said Doug Davidson, who lives in the northeast St. Petersburg neighborhood. "And it was clear there were far too many doubts for this development to work on this site."
Eric Brewer, community affairs manager for Wal-Mart, said company officials plan to address the EDC's concerns before deciding what to do next.
The company already has taken several steps to appease concerns by city staff, including agreeing to spend more than $5-million to expand Gandy Boulevard from four lanes to six to accommodate increased traffic from the 150,000-square-foot store.
"We would have loved to have an approval tonight, but it's incumbent upon us to make sure we take what we heard tonight and address it specifically," Brewer said.
The EDC is a city board that approves site plans, variances and other land-use issues.
The fight wasn't the typical David vs. Goliath match-up.
Brighton Bay residents began organizing months ago and have raised more than $5,000 to fund their effort. Their group, Concerned Citizens for Gandy Boulevard, regularly sends out e-mail notices updating members on the latest city action.
They came to City Hall on Wednesday armed with a land-use lawyer, traffic engineer, environmental consultant and reams of data.
By 10 a.m., it was standing room only in the EDC's chamber. Wal-Mart opponents, many wearing neon green stickers that read "No Wal-Mart on Wetlands," spilled over into two conference rooms where TVs were set up so they could watch the proceedings.
The meeting started with a tribute to Ben Fisher, the EDC's chairman, who was retiring after 11 years with the commission.
Fisher knew his last meeting might also be his longest.
"We will take two breaks today," Fisher told the crowd. "One will be at 12 noon for lunch. The other will be at 6 p.m. for dinner. It would be nice if we didn't have to take that second break."
Wal-Mart appeared to have the early advantage. The city's staff was recommending approval of the plan, which would include a grocery store, garden center and separate liquor store.
The parcel was zoned for commercial development. Nearby businesses include Derby Lane dog track, a Goodwill facility and an adult bookstore, making it difficult for residents to claim Wal-Mart would sully the character of the neighborhood.
Jim Porter, Wal-Mart's lawyer, urged commissioners not to get caught up in emotion.
"This is not a referendum on Wal-Mart," he said.
But opponents began chipping away at the corporation, focusing on two major themes: the destruction of wetlands and the increased traffic the store would create on Brighton Bay Boulevard.
Wal-Mart officials maintained their store would destroy only 6 acres of wetlands, which the corporation would mitigate by buying and preserving 12 acres on Placido Bayou. Environmental consultant Mike Howe also said no threatened or endangered species have been seen on the site.
Sara McDonald, conservation chair for the Suncoast Sierra Club, disagreed.
She said 20 of the lot's 27 acres qualified as wetlands. And residents have seen rare and threatened birds, including the Southern bald eagle, roseate spoonbill and wood stork on the site.
McDonald also noted the National Marine Fisheries Services, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency already have recommended the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers deny Wal-Mart's permit to build on the land.
But it was the issue of traffic that incensed the crowd.
While Wal-Mart offered to make improvements to Gandy Boulevard, the store's main entrance would be on Brighton Bay Boulevard, which many residents said was unfit to handle such a dramatic increase in traffic.
"That is the only way to and from our homes," said Sharon Thomas, president of the Brighton Bay neighborhood association. "There is nothing more stressful and frustrating than to be only two minutes away from home but to have it take 20 minutes to get there because traffic is backed up."